Hell's Gate Natural Geo-Thermal Reserve & Wai Ora Spa
Hello to everyone from Hell's Gate. This was truely a magnificent sight to see. It reminded us of how maybe the surface of the moon would look like. The water in all the different pools continuously bubbles all the time. Let us take you for a little tour guide through the gates of Hell.
This is the most active geothermal field in the Rotorua area. The reserve is set in a 50 acre area with quite the variety of geothermal pools, boiling mud and steam rising from the earth. This is a 2.5km walk around the area with hot water pools in excess of 100C. A Maori princess "Hurutini" lost her life trying to save her people and this led to the naming of the area as Tikitere. The Maori used this area as a place for healing and revitalising for over 800 years.
Playwrighter, George Bernard Shaw saw this area and looked at the "hell like" landscape and gave the reserve its name.
This is a sign that you see as soon as you start on the walk through the geo-thermal area. Not likely that we were going to litter!!
This pool looks like black mud or ink. It has a temperature of 120C. There are three different types of geothermal muds - black, grey & white. The black mud like in this pool has been used in the treatment of arthritis and rheumatism.
The steaming cliffs pool is the hottest on the reserve. At the surface the water is 122C and one meter below the temperature is 145C. The boiling water at times can reach heights of more than 3 meter above the surface. It was hard to take a picture of this for the steam rising was thicker than fog at times. We took a video of the steaming cliffs but it was too large to download.
This is a Maori wood carving. We saw this on the start of our bush walk. Matthew it is up to you to figure this one out for we forgot what it is! Let us know what you find out. It is amazing the vast contrast in landscape as you go from one part of the reserve to the next. You need to walk through this luscious landscape to view the rest of the goe thermal reserve.
The "Kakahi Falls". This is the largest hot water fall in the Southern Hemisphere. Its temperature is approximately 40C, that of a nice hot shower. These falls hold a special place for the Maori people. The warriors used these falls to bathe in after battle. The sulphur in the water acted as a salve for the wounds and scratches that the warriors received in battle.
During the bush walk there is an amazing contrast from that of the geothermal area. From what seems like barren land with steam and bubbling mud to lush jungle like greenery. This bush walk contains many examples of the native New Zealand plants. The beautiful colors of these shrubs and their flowers are due to the fertilizing effect of the sulphur produced from the geothermal activity.
The flax was the most important for the Maori. It was used for baskets, clothing, binding for wounds, buildings, canoes, tools, and weapons. It also has medicinal purposes as well. An example is to aid a toothache and dressing for wounds.
The Silver Fern is New Zealand's national emblem. The Maori warriors used it to mark their path. The leader of the warriors would turn up a leaf. The underside (silver) would reflect and guide the rest of the warriors. The last warrior would then turn down the leaf so no one would know where they have been. For the Maori the fern has always meant going to achieve something, a goal.
The black tree fern was used for both food and medicinal purposes. The stem and trunk was used for food. The young fronds for skin inflammations. The pith for sore, swollen feet. Gum for diarrhoea.
The Manuka tree has many medicinal purposes such as to treat fever, colds burns. It was also used as a sedative and for body stiffness and more.
Hell's Gate also has a wide variety of spa treatments. We decided to take in the "private" mud bath. The water was nice and warm and the mud - well we'll say no more on that!!
After the mud bath we went into the sulphur pool. It was hot but refreshing at the same time. Nice to soak the body after the walk around the reserve.
After we left Hell's Gate & Spa we were on the road again. Here are a couple of pictures of the wonderful mountains we saw in New Zealand. Just breathtaking.
We stopped for the night in a small town of Levin. It was late at night so we didn't get to see much until morning. The tree on the right is a lemon tree. It was just behind our room. Nice room and reasonable as well.
How would you like to wake up to sheep in the morning. Our motel room was at the end and beside us was a sheep farm. First thing in the morning we went out for a "conversation" (smoke) (hence the lovely hair) and were greeted by the sheep.
Monday morning we started on the road again. Our last day in New Zealand for our plane was leaving early afternoon. We stopped at "Otaki" Beach which was not too far from Wellington where we had to catch our plane. Really nice beach but it was pretty cold and windy that day. There was lots and lots of shells which I would of liked to bring home but you cannot remove them from the beach let alone bring them back to Australia.
Clam shells on the Otaki Beach.
That concludes our trip to New Zealand. We cannot express enough how beautiful it was and the sights & tours we experienced were a thrill of a lifetime. We hope the pictures give you a taste of New Zealand. We strongly suggest that anyone coming over to Australia take the extra couple hour flight to see New Zealand. This is only the northern island that we saw and only the tip of the iceburg. We hope to go back there and see more of the northern island and take in the southern island as well. It was so worth the trip. Just to let you know that we took over 400 pictures of New Zealand. We will have to show more to you when we see you next.
Take care everyone and there are more posts coming in a couple of days featuring our little visitors, another beach trip and a new category "Same but Different".
Love always,
Bryan & Maureen
